Through a Storm

Do you like road trips?  I do.  Except when there’s bad weather while you are on that road trip.

The other day we were driving on a road trip (“We” meaning my husband.  I was reading next to him.) and as we drove we noticed that we were heading toward very dark skies.  We could tell that there was a storm up ahead, but we had to keep going even though the skies were becoming darker and darker.   Soon we were in the storm.  It was just rain and some lightening, but some of that rain was very hard rain.  You know the kind of rain that makes it difficult to see while you’re driving?  Yep, that kind of rain.  The storm lasted for a very long time and I was thankful that my husband is a good driver.  Finally, the rain slowed down and we saw brighter skies.  Suddenly the temperature outside was quite a bit warmer, the sun was out and the rain was gone.  Everything was dry and sunny again.  And guess what?  All of the bugs that were covering our windshield before the storm had been washed away by the rain.  We were driving on dry streets in the warm sun and a with a clear windshield.

Driving through that rain storm reminded me of going through other kinds of storms in life.  Not literal storms, but the times in life when things don’t go the way that we planned and we feel like we are in a storm – covered over with dark skies, not really being able to see what’s ahead very well and having no idea when it will end and when life will be better.  But if you know Jesus as your Savior, then you can know that God is always with you, even through that storm.  He knows what is ahead and when the storm will end.  You can trust God in the storm that He is always good and that He will never leave you.  And you know what?  God can even bring good things out of a storm.  Like a clear windshield.

Psalm 34:17-18 is a good reminder for us when we are going through storms, “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles.  The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit,” (NIV).

There are a lot of good songs about going through storms in life, but I like “Not for a Moment” by Meredith Andrews so here it is:

Trees and Truth

Have you seen the movie, “The Lorax?”  I just watched it the other day.  If you’ve seen it, then you’ll remember the town of Thneadville that was made of plastic.  And you’ll remember how the people liked their plastic trees that were filled with air.  And that they had forgotten about real trees.  Ah, yes.  The real trees.

You see, there was once a beautiful land full of trees.  Then a well-meaning young man allowed people to cut down a few trees, but the people got a bit carried away.  You see, after a while they realized that all of the trees were cut down.  The Lorax tried to stop the people from cutting down the trees, but the people didn’t listen.  They did what they wanted to do.  And what was left wasn’t very pretty.  Just an expanse of land filled with tree stumps and, after everyone else left, one lonely young man.

Then we see Thneadville.  This town had no real trees.  The trees in this town were made of plastic and filled with air.  A man in that town had convinced everyone there that they didn’t want real trees, that the plastic trees were so much better.  This man knew that real trees were good for the people, but he didn’t care about the people.  He was getting rich by selling air to the people for their plastic trees.  And the people were enjoying the plastic trees, until they realized that real trees were actually good and better for them than plastic trees.  Who knew?

Well, that air salesman knew.  And he was very good at deceiving the people.

So here’s my thought.  What if we are being deceived?  What if someone wants us to cut down all of our “trees?”  To stop believing that God knows and wants what is best for us?  Whether we believe in God or not, what if we’re cutting down the trees of truth?

Is someone trying to sell us “air” today?  Not because it’s particularly good for us, but to keep us away from wanting what is good for us -the real trees, or real truth?  Are we believing lies about things that seem fine and good – like plastic trees – when really they are not good at all because we were meant to have real trees?

Our culture today tells our young people that purity isn’t that big of a deal.  That they should be able to do whatever they feel seems right at the time or to look at whatever they want and it won’t matter.  That seems like a plastic tree – something that sounds good, but isn’t really true.  After all, now we have many depressed teens and lots of diseases.  Maybe we shouldn’t have cut down that tree of truth about purity.  What if it really is the best thing for us after all?  God has made it very clear in His Word that purity is important.  Not to spoil anyone’s fun, but because it is good for us.  I think our young people are much smarter and more capable than our culture seems to believe today.

And what about marriage?  In the beginning God created a man and a woman and married them and told them to be fruitful and multiply.  Only one man and one woman together can do that.  Marriage requires one husband and one wife.  Are we filling up another plastic tree with air when we choose to redefine marriage?  How do you redefine a word anyway?  You can’t change what something is just because someone doesn’t happen to like it.  Words have meaning.  And so does marriage.  Or do we want to cut down another real tree and replace it with a plastic one that looks nice, but really is not what is best for us?  I have volunteered with kids for years and I have seen that children do best when they are raised in a home with a mom and a dad.

What about the godly heritage of our country?  Here in America many of our founding fathers believed in God and formed our government on biblical principles.  Look at what George Washington said on September 19, 1796:  ”We ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which heaven itself has ordained.”  Today our nation is disregarding many of the “eternal rules of order and right which heaven itself has ordained” and I feel like we’ve been cutting down a lot of trees.

As in the movie, the people who cut down the trees meant no harm.  They were not evil people with ill-intent.  They were good people who truly thought they were doing something good.  Today I believe we are in that same situation.  Many well-meaning people are doing what they think is right.  But is it right to go against God?  Does He not know what is best for those He has created?  Are we unknowingly buying air that we don’t need just to fill up our plastic trees that we think will make us happy while what we really need is real trees, or real truth that never changes?

Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full,” (John 10:10 NIV).  Will we continue to allow our “trees” to be stolen, killed and destroyed?  That young man in the movie that thought he was doing what was right and good was left all alone with tree stumps as far as the eye could see.  Will we believe a lie and just do what we want as he did and end up with something we didn’t expect or want or will we believe truth and have life to the full?

At the end of the movie the people learned about real trees and planted the last tree seed – and soon many trees grew.  What a beautiful sight the real trees were!  True trees standing for all to see and enjoy.  I want to see that, too.  Trees of truth so that we may have life to the full.  That will be beautiful!

Don’t Get Comfortable

Okay.  I admit it.  These are my favorite shoes.  I’ve worn them all through the fall, winter and now the spring.  And last year I wore the same shoes, but a different pair.  They were so comfortable that when they started to wear out I went to the store hoping that they would still have them.  And they did!  What a happy day!

And now this new pair looks worn out, but they are sooo comfortable.  I will say that I have nice shoes when I need to look nice, but these shoes are my favorite and even though they’re getting kind-of embarrassing to wear, I still wear them because, well, you know, they’re comfortable.

Which makes me think, what else am I getting comfortable with?  I know I should get rid of these shoes for good, but they’re so comfy.  And after all, they’re just shoes.  But are there things in my life that maybe I’ve gotten too comfortable with – like with this pair of shoes?  Are there things in your life?

It’s a good question to think about.  It’s nice to be comfy, but what if God is calling you to give up something like a bad attitude or to do something new that may not be so comfortable?

A lot of the things that I’ve done have not been so comfortable.  Like when I agreed to lead worship for children and I showed up to find 350 children gathered in front of me and a microphone.  That turned out to be one of the most fun things I’ve done.  Definitely not comfortable, but fun.  And I think that’s the point.  When we’re not comfortable, we have to count on God to work through us.  We have to remember every moment that God promised to never leave us and that He will help us.  And we learn to trust the Holy Spirit to comfort us and give us courage.  And that is the best thing about serving God.  Watching what He does through us when we are definitely not comfortable, but willing to serve Him and do our best.

So as the weather warms up here, it’s about time to get rid of my comfortable shoes that I have enjoyed wearing for so many months.  Why is that so hard to do?  I will say, though, that I’m looking forward to wearing sandals and flip flops.  Shoes that are cute AND comfortable.  I am so ready for that!

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego

You know how you can read a passage of Scripture a hundred times and learn something new each of those times?  Well, the kids that I teach ask really good questions so I like to anticipate their questions and study more than just the lesson.  And I learned something really neat that every parent will appreciate.

The lesson this time was about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  I knew that when these teenagers arrived in Babylon from Judah that they were given new names, but I hadn’t noticed before what those names meant.  Or what their original names had meant.  This is what’s really neat.  Their parents gave them names that had to do with God, the one true God, which means that their parents were probably teaching them about God and encouraging them to follow Him.  We know that these young men knew the one true God.  Here are the names that their parents gave them:

Hananiah:  Yahweh is gracious.

Mishael:  Who is what God is?

Azariah:  Yahweh is a helper.

Now look at their names given to them in Babylon:

Shadrach:  I am very fearful of God or Command of Aku (the moon god).

Meshach:  I am of little account or Who is like Aku?

Abednego:  Servant of the shining one (Nebo, a Babylonian god).

The leaders of Babylon must have wanted these young men to forget their God and worship the false gods of Babylon, but would they?  No.  Even when persecuted by being thrown into a very hot, fiery furnace made for baking bricks, they still stood up for God.  They said that no matter what would happen, they would worship only the one true God.  Go Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego!

Here’s what is really neat to me.  (Well, besides the whole amazing true story.)  Sometimes we as parents can wonder if our children are listening to us, but we can know that they are.  We can teach our children about God, train them in godly ways and encourage them to live for God and to stand up for Him.  And when we need to let them go we can continue to pray for them.  I’m sure the parents of those three teenagers were praying for their sons while they were in Babylon.  And just like in Babylon, when our culture encourages our kids to forget about their God and choose the ways of the world, they will have the courage to choose to trust God to help them as they stand up for Him and for what is right.  Just like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

* The name information is from the ESV Study Bible.

Faith, Hope and… Tulips!

In case anyone was wondering after my previous post (http://lorischulz.wordpress.com/2013/04/25/hope/), my tulips have bloomed!  It took longer than I expected, but they are wonderful!

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see,” (Hebrews 11:1 NIV).

Hope

I remember when I planted these tulips a few years ago.  I went out with my trowel and dug down deep into the ground.  Then I placed the bulbs in and covered them up with dirt.  That was in the fall.  Then I waited several months for spring to come.  Would the tulips grow?  They did!  And now a few springs later I watched again as the green leaves poked through the dirt and then grew taller.  And soon I will see the bright colored tulips again!

It was a lot of work way back in that fall.  And a lot of waiting.  But I know I will see those beautiful tulips very soon!

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see,” (Hebrews 11:1 NIV).

Got Worries?

Have you ever worried?  Did you know that kids worry?

Children’s Ministry Magazine recently shared a statement from The Washington Post about kids and stress.  It said, “Your kids may benefit from a lesson on worry.  Stress is the leading reason 10-15 percent of school-aged children now need medical attention for stomach pain,” (March/April 2013).  I agree that kids could benefit from a lesson on worry.  Many children have told me about things that they are worried about, from rain storms to school fire drills to parents arguing.  Children do worry.  And so do we.  So what do we do when we worry?

Well, anytime we don’t know what to do, we can look to God.  And, guess what?  God has a lot to say about worry in His Word, the Bible!

When I spoke about worry to a group of children at a Christian school chapel, I brought a special little friend with me.  A small Play-Doh person.  We decided that our Play-Doh person seemed happy and joyful.  But then we imagined that our Play-Doh friend was our age and we shared things that we worry about.  As each worry was shared, our Play-Doh friend was pressed down more and more until it was all pressed down flat from worry.  Our Play-Doh friend didn’t seem so joyful anymore.  When you  have things that you are worried about, do you feel pressed down flat like that?  That’s not how God wants us to live.  He wants us to have joy and know that He cares about us.  So what should we do when we worry?

The Bible has a lot to say about worry, but I like the verse in 1 Peter 5:7, “Give all your cares and worries to God because He cares about you,” (NLT).  So when we worry, we should give our worries to God because He cares about us.  Did you know that God cares about you?  He created the whole world just by speaking.  He made the planets, the sun, the stars, the flowers, the puppies.  And He made you!  Since God made you, He cares about you.  In fact, God cares about you so much that He even knows how many hairs are on your head!  This morning when you combed your hair, did you count the hairs on your head?  No?  Why not?  Okay, I didn’t either.  I really don’t care how many hairs are on my head, but God does.  He even cares about things about me that really aren’t that big of a deal.  Can you imagine how much He cares about the things that really do matter to you?  He cares a lot!

So we know God cares about us, but how do we give Him our cares and worries?

First, let’s think of ways that we tend to give God our worries.  One thing we tend to do is to say, “God, I’m worried about this and I know you care about me, but, well, I’m not sure that you can really take care of this.  I’m just going to keep holding onto this worry.”  That’s like giving our worries to God in the same way that we play with a yo-yo.  We start to give it away, but we hold onto it with a string and keep bringing it back to us.  That’s not how God wants us to give Him our worries.

Here’s another way that we tend to give God our worries.  We say, “God, I know you care about me and I’m worried about this, but, God, this is a really big worry and I don’t think you can handle this one so I’m going to keep worrying about this and handle this one on my own.”  When we do that, it’s like we’re giving our worries to God in the way that we play with a boomerang.  If I take my boomerang toy to the park and throw it, it will come back to me.  When we give our worries to God, but don’t trust Him to take care of us, our worries come back to us, too.  Did you know that God is a really big God?  He is!  He keeps all of the stars in place in the sky and He can take care of you!

So here is how we should give our worries to God.  Like a hot potato.  If you pick up a hot potato, you will put it down very quickly or your hands will hurt!  And you won’t pick up a hot potato again.  You will leave it alone and not touch it.  That is how God wants us to give our worries to Him.  He wants us to remember that He cares about us and to tell Him our worries and trust Him to take care of us.

And then, when we do that, we will have joy because we will know that God cares about us.

Are you feeling pressed down flat with worry today?  Give God your cares and worries because He cares about you!

*Note:  The Play-Doh idea came from The Hands-On Bible.  The yo-yo, boomerang and hot potato idea came from notes that I wrote in my Bible a long time ago from a book, but I don’t remember which one.  I’m sorry to whoever I am not crediting for that!

You Could Be A Hero!

Did you know that you could be someone’s hero and you don’t even know it?

Recently I found out that two of my Good News Club children wrote about me for their hero assignment in school.  If you’re a Bible teacher, than you understand how fun this is.  We don’t teach in order to get things like recognition, money or our pictures on Wheaties boxes.  In fact, it costs money to lead a Good News Club and to do many things in ministry and often in ministry no one says, “Thank you.”  It doesn’t matter though, because we teach because we feel called by God.  And we get to teach from God’s Word.  What could be more exciting than that?  However, when parents and children let us know that what we are doing is making a difference in the lives of those that we teach, that is such a blessing!

So this winter I was excited to find out that two of my kids in club wrote about me for their hero assignment at school.  They had to draw a picture of their hero and put that on the cover of a Wheaties box of cereal and then put their story on the back of the cereal box.  I’ve never had my picture on a Wheaties box before and now it is on two!  (Haha.  Don’t go looking for them in your store.  They’re not real Wheaties boxes.)  The really neat thing about this is not that they wrote about me, but that these boxes were displayed in the school where people could find out about Good News Club and our amazing God.  Now that is very cool!

So are you wondering what makes a hero to children?  Want to know what is important in children’s ministry?  Here are some of the things that they wrote:

“Mrs. Lori has a kind heart.  When we come into Good News Club we get a tasty snack.  When we are stuck on something or don’t know what the answer is she will help us.  After Good News Club is over Mrs. Lori lets us pick from a million books.  And she is kinder than my brother and sister and trust me they are kind.”

“We do athletic stuff like parachute and Duck, Duck, Goose.  If you searched up most athletic person there would be a picture of Mrs. Lori on there.”

“She knows everyone’s name every day.”

“She is smarter than Albert Einstein.  She knows every word in the book that we read.  Mrs. Lori knows what to say when she is up to talk.  If she wasn’t smart we would be dumb when it comes to God.”  (My note:  That book that we read is the Bible.  Both of the children drew it on their Wheaties boxes!)

“Mrs. Lori is friendly.  She is always fair and doesn’t leave anybody out.  When hurt she will always help you.”

“She helps kids when they don’t know what to do.”

“She’s nice to the other people on the Good News Club Team.”

“She’s intelligent.  She knows every word in the stories.  She can say every kid’s name and tell every kid about God.”

“She always puts God first.”

I think it’s fun to see what is important to the children that we minister to.  It seems that things like knowing their names, being kind and friendly, knowing the Bible lessons well, playing fun games and having tasty snacks are important to these kids.  With God’s help, I can keep doing that.

I’m still amazed that God has called me to be a part of teaching children and leading them to know Him.  What a fun task!  And who knows?  You may be a hero today and you don’t even know it.

The thing that I’m really excited about is that what these kids really see in me is Jesus, and He is the real hero!

Candles

Do you like candles?  Maybe decorative candles?  Birthday candles?  What about candles that aren’t really candles at all?

The other day I was eating in a restaurant that had candles on the tables.  But there was something different about these candles.  They weren’t real.  They looked real, but they were not real.  They were fake.  Inside the votive cover was a plastic flame with an on/off switch on the bottom of it.  Have you seen those?  They look so real through the votive holder, but inside they are just plastic-covered flickering lights.  And they don’t even get warm.

That made me think about real candles.  Real candles have real flames that get hot.  In fact, they get so hot that as they burn the wax from the candle melts.  You can even use a real candle to light other candles.  And if you’re not careful, real candles can start a fire.  Because they’re not fake.  They are real candles with real burning fire.

So I have a question for you.  If you were like one of these candles today, which one would you be like?  Are you like that plastic candle that looks really neat, but isn’t really flickering with real fire?  Or are you like a real candle that is burning hot with a flame that could start other candles on fire?

I want to be like the real candle.  I think as we spend time getting to know God more every day we become like a real candle.  John 8:12 says this, “He (Jesus) said, ‘I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life,’” (NIV).  When we believe in Jesus as our Savior, then we have the light of life.  As we continue to walk with Him, we will reflect His light.  Acts 13:47 says this, “For this is what the Lord has commanded us:  ’I have made you a light…that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth,’” (NIV).  Do you have the light of life?  Is your fire spreading to others?  We have been commanded to tell the good news and we can do that through the way that we live and the words that we say – in the way that we shine like real candles.

Maybe you are feeling like that restaurant candle today, the one with the pretend flame.  Maybe you go to church or even call yourself a Christian, but you’ve never made the decision to believe in Jesus as your Savior.  You can do that today!  Or maybe you decided to believe in Jesus as your Savior, but you haven’t been taking time to really know Him.  You can do that by reading the Bible, talking with God, spending time with other believers and also by telling other people about what God has done for you.  That restaurant candle looked neat on the table, but it just didn’t have real fire.  You don’t have to be like that.

I have to admit that the restaurant candle was interesting for a while, but I want the real thing.  I want to be like a real candle with a real flame that burns.  I want my heart to burn with the love of Jesus in such a way that I will be the hands and feet of Jesus to others, to do my part in bringing salvation to the ends of the earth.  Paul wrote this in 2 Corinthians 4:6, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.  But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us,” (NIV).

Let’s be like real candles today, shining with the light and love of Jesus in our hearts so that others will know the light of the glory of God.

He is Risen!

“…that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,” (1 Corinthians 15:3b-4 ESV).

Happy Easter to you all!  Chris Tomlin’s song, “Jesus, Son of God,” is a perfect song for Easter so here it is: